Loose-leaf documents and other sheet-like elements are often bound in a supporting binder. The loose-leaf documents are easily removed, and the binder is readily reused if the contents are no longer needed. Most commonly, three ring binders are used. These binders have a spine or base hingedly connected to a front and back cover. The spine or base may be a solid backing member to which a ring assembly is secured. Alternatively, the ring assembly may be secured to one of the covers immediately adjacent to a spine. The front and back covers may be formed of a relatively flexible material, or a relatively stiff material interconnected to the spine or base through a suitable flexible connection therebetween.
Other than having interior and exterior pockets for carrying loose sheets of paper, these types of binders are not designed to carry items often carried in a briefcase or backpack such as a book, notebook, calculator, cellular phone, notebook computer, palm top computer, key chain, and office supply items such as a pen, tape, marker, ruler, and etc. To accommodate these items, students usually carry their books and other school related items to and from campus in a backpack. While on campus, students have no need for the backpack because most of the items are left in a campus locker during the school day. Usually, only a binder and several additional items are needed for a particular class, and accordingly students must either take the bulky backpack to class, or cram the needed extra items into their pockets or in the three ring binder. In another example, professionals generally carry a briefcase to and from the office but would prefer to attend meetings with only a binder and a few additional items such as a cellular phone, small calculator, and a few key papers.
Although one main purpose of such a binder is to carry papers and other items, the businessperson or student will often also use the binder to carry a fresh pad of paper on which to write information. There are carrying cases in existence which are capable of carrying papers in an organized fashion and which have space to carry a fresh notepad of paper and other items, such as pens, etc.
These carrying cases, however, have one significant drawback--the only place within the carrying case to carry the fresh pad of paper is within the central interior of the carrying case, together with the other papers and materials, which are also contained within the interior of the carrying case. Thus, in these existing carrying cases, if the user of the carrying case wishes to write something onto a fresh piece of paper contained on a notepad within the carrying case, the user will have to open the interior of the carrying case, thereby exposing the papers and other materials contained therein. By opening the interior of the carrying cease, the user runs the risk of having the papers contained within the interior of the carrying case fall out of the case, even when the user simply wants to write something down on the notepad.
Further, the writing surfaces of many desks, usually those used in a school or lecture hall, are only large enough to hold a single sheet of paper; they are not large enough to hold both sides of the carrying case when it is opened to expose the interior of the case where the user will be writing on the notepad contained inside. Thus, the user must accommodate these smaller desks while writing on the notepad contained inside the case by folding the case behind on itself, or allowing one side of the case to fall over the edge of the desk. Using these carrying cases on such smaller desks thus exposes the papers and other items contained within the case to the additional risk that the papers and other items contained within the case will fall out of the case.